Turkey is in a unique position - only the smallest corner actually sits in Europe, but it's not really considered a Middle Eastern country, either. Turkey is more of a bridge between the east and the west. However, they have been striving, since 1987, to join the European Union, and insist that they are a European country. Arguments can and have been made for both sides, but the fact remains that Turkey is a member of every European organization except for the EU, and first applied for associate membership in the EEC (European Economic Community) in 1959. Poor Turkey... Their application was finally accepted and negotiations began in 2005.
In order to achieve EU membership, a candidate country must open and close 35 chapters of reforms and then be voted in unanimously by the existing EU member states. Turkey has thus far closed only 1 chapter, on Science and Research, and only 13 others are even open. One major problem for Turkey is its relations with Cyprus and Austria. Turkey refuses to recognize Cyprus as a sovereign state, much like the problem between Serbia and Kosovo; Austria is still upset about the siege of Vienna dating back to 1529, which eventually led to the 1683 Battle of Vienna and the ensuing Great Turkish War with the Ottoman Empire. Austria has said that as long as they are a member of the EU, Turkey will never join. But you have to give some props to Turkey for not being deterred! They are making very slow progress, but its still progress all the same.
The recent protests in Turkey and the rising authoritarianism of the AKP bring questions about Turkey's future; until these protests started, though, Turkey was doing relatively well. They would still be called more of a defective democracy because of the influence and power of the military, but they have been making great strides. People sometimes make the mistake of saying that Turkey is autocratic, because their foreign policy is less independent and more nationalistic than that of the US, but what I think is important for people (specifically, Americans) to acknowledge is that American democracy isn't necessarily the only form of democracy. I think we all know that we have our own problems within the American political system; just because a democracy or government has different policies than we do doesn't make it not a democracy. There is the issue, though, that Prime Minister Erdogan has gone a little rogue. So it's hard to evaluate Turkey right now - it is impossible to predict what the outcome of this situation will be.
Another problem with Turkey is its close proximity to Iraq, Iran, and Syria. The EU fears that with all of the instability in this region, having EU borders stretch this far might present problems that they don't want to have to deal with. If the conflict spills over into Turkey, it would become the EU's problem; they would rather have Turkey as a buffer country to the Middle East. The EU also has a clause called the acquis communitaire stating that a country wishing to join the EU must have resolved all border disputes - Turkey has a major dispute with Syria over the Hatay province, and problems with Armenia over the recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
I wish I had some pictures of Turkey and actual experiences there - although I did love the trip to the Balkans! - but I'll just have to leave this as an informative post. Classes are now over and we have our final exams on Thursday.. and on Friday morning I'll be starting my journey home. The trip back might be just as eventful, and possibly more so, than the trip over! I'll be taking a train to Frankfurt, then two separate flights home, both with a connection and one-hour layover... But for now, I'm just focusing on 1) studying for exams, 2) writing my final paper, and 3) soaking in every last moment of Freiburg that I can!
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